Best Actor 1980: Peter O'Toole in The Stunt Man

Peter O'Toole received his sixth Oscar nomination for portraying film director Eli Cross in The Stunt Man.

The Stunt Man is a story of a man who hides from the police acting as the stunt man to a manipulative domineering director. The film is certainly an interesting effort as well as entertaining at times, but it sort of loses its way in the second half. 

 

It is rather interesting that Timothy Hutton was nominated and won for his clearly leading role in the Supporting role for Ordinary People, yet Peter O'Toole here is really a supporting performance, although a domineering supporting performance. O'Toole's character knows the secret of the stunt man who is hiding from the police, and chooses to exploit him just as he exploits and manipulates the rest of his cast and crew. O'Toole dominates the film here from his first appearance as we only hear an audio comment on a random perspective. O'Toole's voice carries this certain kind of menace to it alone. There is a power to the man on that alone and from it you seem to sense the strength of the man's power and ambition. The ferocity within the man that is unlike anything you'd expect from a sensitive artist, rather he is perhaps some demonic overlord.

O'Toole performance is filled with charisma, honestly one of his most charismatic turns in his post-60's career, as we see the power of the man. O'Toole wields the personality beautifully and is extremely entertaining here. O'Toole has this infectious kind of mischief quality within his performance. He finds this fascinating kind of combination between a brutal darkness and a sense of fun with the material. O'Toole's eyes suggesting the coldest of killers while his delivering suggests something else. There is something within him as he directs his film. A kind of savoring quality in producing the manipulations. I particularly like one moment when his crew is talking about how the film will end up being cut in the end by the studio. Eli Cross though says he knows they will not cut his film, or else he will kill him. O'Toole delivers this line with such insane glee, that is both hilarious and brilliant in showing the intensity of the man's particular ego.

O'Toole said he based his performance on his Lawrence of Arabia director David Lean, and that is certainly interesting in terms of his perspective of the man who made him a star. O'Toole portrayal being that of an unrelenting egotistical dictator. There is though that sense of fun with it that might be in part of sending up his old collaborator. This as O'Toole plays the villain, but quite the entertaining villain in that sense. This as O'Toole performance doesn't quite simplify the director's nature. This as much as he is the terror, and quite the stunning terror in terms of how menacing he is in every word he speaks, even when speaking with just a rather unnerving calm. This as he O'Toole crafts a seeming contradiction in the devotion to his art while also seeming to essentially being a brute in his tactics in service towards his vision.

Eli Cross rules the film set within the film, while O'Toole rules the film itself. This as whenever he is onscreen it comes to life. This as O'Toole brings so much relish in showing the man getting so much out of crafting his vision. This as there is the genuine thrill of it all even beyond his moments of cruel dictatorship. O'Toole is fascinating in the way he really approaches any given scene as he actually treads around a singular note. This as he wields the darkness of the character. There are the moments where he speaks as though he's just having fun in messing with his actors, his crew and his stuntman. O'Toole creates a terrific enigma in this. This as he'll shade the moments of fun with a strict killer's intent suddenly within his face. O'Toole is wonderful by playing with every expectation. His delivery is particularly fascinating as his vocal adjustments is masterclass in how a slight change in emphasis makes a man seem a mad genius one moment and a hideous monster the next. O'Toole is utterly unpredictable here and it is beautiful. Although I wish this performance was in the film more, because whenever O'Toole is onscreen it works, that cannot be held against O'Toole who is great here and runs away with a truly great supporting turn.